Not that you'll be surprised, but Hollywood often puts way more drama and excitement into period films than the real history would warrant. In the case of the American frontier, this started even before movies, when newspaper articles and dime novels portrayed the West as a lawless and dangerous place. This sort of narrative sold a lot of newspapers and novels, and led to the rise of the Wild West show, which was a staple of traveling entertainment for decades. Real life in the Old West was different and often harsh, but it wasn't nearly as exciting as we were led to believe. However, while writers, and later movies, emphasized the reactively rare violent events, they sometimes downplayed or outright ignored other interesting parts about the West.

Read up on <a href="https://www.cracked.com/image-pictofact-7363-13-now-you-know-facts-about-the-wild-west-they-didnt-teach-at-school" alt="13 facts about the Wild West you might not know" class="on">13 facts about the Wild West you might not know</a>, and might even be surprised by, at Cracked.&nbsp; #Western #OldWest #WildWest

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